ALTON — In the month or so since he was officially named as the head soccer coach of Marquette Catholic High’s boys soccer team, Joe Burchett has wasted precious little time. And while there are some five months before the start of his first season leading the Explorers, Burchett said the work begins now.

“I’m working on putting together a summer workout schedule and figuring how to best use the (ISHA-allowed) summer contact days,” said Burchett, who planned to meet with members of his team Wednesday at MCHS.

“Using the summer contact days is important,” he said, “and imagine we’ll use most of the allowed days.”

Burchett, 49, replaced Jeremy Sanfilippo as the Explorers coach. Sanfilippo, who guided Marquette to the 2011 Class 1A state championship, stepped down in December.

Sanfilippo wants to have time available to watch his two children play college soccer during the fall months. Daughter Kate, a former Telegraph Player of the Year, will be a junior next fall at Northern Illinois University and son Brandon will be a sophomore goalie at at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.

Sanfilippo will continue to coach in the Lou Fusz Soccer Club.

Burchett, a former head coach at Belleville Althoff, spent last season as Sanfilippo’s assistant coach.

Burchett lives in Maryville and works in the architectural drafting field. He suffered a knee injury playing club soccer after graduating from CHS and did not play college soccer.

“I hope we perform as well, no even better, than last season,” Burchett said. “We want to win the regional, of course, but we would like to aim even higher.”

Last season, the Explorers went 12-7-2 and fell to Waterloo 2-0 in the semifinals of the Class 2A Columbia Regional.

Burchett’s record in three seasons at Althoff was 34-18-9.

“We were young,” Burchett said of the 2016 Explorers. “We have 28 players returning out of 34. I think that’s a good sign. Plus, we’ll have freshmen to add to that. I’m encouraged.

“I’ve met about 12 freshmen players who will be coming in and I’m very optimistic,” said Burchett, who hasn’t yet named an assistant coach, but plans to do so soon.

Burchett that in addition to the summer workout schedule, he may schedule some friendly (practice) games. Once IHSA-sanctioned preseason practices are allowed on Aug. 10, he will have a training regimen in place.

“We may do two-a-days, we may not,” Burchett said. “I still don’t know what preseason practice approach we’ll take. I’ll have an idea once I see how it goes this summer.

“I do like to get fit in the summer,” he said. “Plus, we’ll have our summer soccer camp, which will be June 26-29.